Department of Health and Social Care

Social Services: Finance

Faisal Rashid: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will ensure that social care receives a real terms increase in funding in the forthcoming comprehensive spending review.

Caroline Dinenage: Social care funding for future years will be settled in the spending review, where the overall approach to funding local government will be considered.

Public Health: Waste Management

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effects of the policies outlined in the Waste and Resources Strategy, published on 18 December 2018, on public health.

Steve Brine: Public Health England has not made an assessment of the effects of the policies outlined in the Waste and Resources Strategy on public health.

Incinerators: Health Hazards

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 27 November 2018 to Question 193367, what evidence Public Health England has considered on the effects of dioxins released during incineration of municipal waste on human health.

Steve Brine: Public Health England’s (PHE’s) position is that well run and regulated modern municipal waste incinerators (MWIs) are not a significant risk to public health. This view is based on detailed assessments of the effects of air pollutants on health and the fact that modern and well managed MWIs make only a very small contribution to local concentrations of air pollutants. This review included consideration of dioxins and explains that the emissions from incinerators should have a negligible impact on the level of dioxin exposure of the surrounding population either from direct inhalation or exposure from locally produced foodstuffs. Therefore the dioxin emissions from incinerators are unlikely to have any appreciable effect on health. When consulted, PHE provides an expert and independent opinion to the regulator (Environment Agency) on the potential impacts, including from dioxins, on human health of emissions arising from existing or proposed regulated facilities, such as MWIs.

Nurses

Mr Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has commissioned or undertaken external workforce modelling for nursing.

Stephen Hammond: The Department works closely with Health Education England (HEE), the organisation that has responsibility for workforce planning, to understand the nursing workforce supply and demand by using analytical modelling techniques. In developing their workforce plans, HEE engages with a range of stakeholders including professional bodies and sustainability and transformation partnership.

Tameside and Glossop Clinical Commissioning Group

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) role and (b) responsibilities are of the Chief Executive of Tameside and Glossop NHS Clinical Commissioning Group.

Steve Brine: The role of the Accountable Officer, which is equivalent to a Chief Executive, is summarised by the Tameside and Glossop Clinical Commissioning Group Constitution as:“i. being responsible for ensuring that the clinical commissioning group fulfils its duties to exercise its functions effectively, efficiently, and economically thus ensuring improvement in the quality of services and in the health of the local population whilst maintaining value for money,ii. at all times ensuring that the regularity and propriety of expenditure is discharged, and that arrangements are put in place to ensure that good practice (as identified through relevant national bodies and agencies) is embodied and that safeguarding of funds is ensured through effective financial and management systems,iii. working closely with the Chair of the Governing Body, the Accountable Officer will ensure that proper constitutional, governance, and development arrangements are put in place to assure the members (through the Governing Body) of the organisation’s on-going capability and capacity to meet its duties and responsibilities. This will include arrangements for the on-going development of its members and staff.” The key responsibilities of the Accountable Officer are defined by NHS Tameside and Glossop CCG as:"i.T o contribute to developing the strategic direction of the GP Commissioning Consortium (GPCC), translating the strategic objectives of the Consortium into operational plans and managing their delivery.ii. To lead the accreditation process for licencing of the Consortium, working with NHS North West and the Greater Manchester Cluster to ensure that accreditation criteria is met and that the Consortium is successful is successful in its application to become an authorised GPCC by April 2012/2013 and can be established as a NHS Consortium statutory body.iii. To lead the development of the transition plan, developing organisational structures, systems and processes and ensuring that they are fit for purpose and working closely with the Greater Manchester Cluster in order to implement Quality, Innovation, Prevention and Productivity plans and reach consensus on shared services, risk management and commissioning approaches.iv. To be responsible for ensuring wide engagement with senior stakeholders from the local health and social care economy, developing and maintaining existing partnership working and actively pursuing opportunities to partnerships within the community which will promote the health and wellbeing of the population.v. To provide or procure comprehensive commissioning and support functions to support the Consortium, performance managing their delivery.” Further information can be found in the attached document.



PQ203819 attached document
(PDF Document, 160.3 KB)

Alcoholic Drinks: Minimum Prices

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the introduction of minimum unit pricing for alcohol in Scotland on (a) the level of consumption of alcohol and (b) public health.

Steve Brine: No assessment has been made of the effect of the introduction of minimum unit pricing of alcohol in Scotland. The introduction of minimum unit pricing in England remains under review.

Skin Cancer: Sunbeds

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the link between sunbed usage and diagnosis of melanomas; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: The International Agency for Research on Cancer has assessed ultraviolet radiation (UV) emitting tanning devices as “carcinogenic to humans” based on consistent evidence of a positive association between their use and incidence of melanoma. In the United Kingdom the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment have published advice to the Government on the health effects and risks from UV sunbeds. Their report concluded that there is evidence to suggest an increased risk of skin cancer among those who use sunbeds before the age of 35. The ‘UV radiation exposure health risks from artificial tanning devices’ report is available to view at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/comare-13th-report

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect of the men who have sex with men (MSM) vaccination programme on the incidence of HPV-related diseases in MSM.

Steve Brine: The national human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination programme for men who have sex with men (MSM) began on 1 April 2018 and is being introduced via a phased roll out in all sexual health and human immunodeficiency virus clinics across England. As this programme can span up to two years, and some HPV-related diseases (i.e. cancers) take years to develop following infection, the full impact of this vaccination programme on the incidence of diseases will not be fully seen for many years. However, data is being collected to monitor the impact on diagnoses of anogenital warts and on the prevalence of HPV infection in MSM. It is expected that this will provide the earliest assessment of the initial effects of the programme in 2019/20.

Department of Health and Social Care: Staff

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many staff were employed in his Department on (a) 20 December 2018 and (b) 23 June 2016.

Caroline Dinenage: On 20 December 2018 the Department employed 1,589 civil servants. On 23 June 2016 the Department employed 1,974 civil servants. Civil servants are defined as employees, fixed term appointments and loans into the Department. These figures do not include agency workers, contractors and consultants.

General Practitioners: Labour Turnover

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to improve the retention level of GPs within the NHS.

Steve Brine: NHS England and Health Education England (HEE) are working together with the profession to increase the general practitioner (GP) workforce. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why GPs are leaving the profession, and encourage GPs to return to practice. There is a broad offer available to support GPs to remain in the National Health Service including the GP Health Service, the GP Retention Scheme, and the GP Retention Fund. In May 2018, NHS England launched the £10 million GP Retention Fund, comprising of the Local Retention Fund (£7 million) and the Intensive Support Areas (£3 million) which will help GPs stay in the workforce by promoting new ways of working and offering additional support. Recognising that workload is one of the biggest issues impacting retention, NHS England is investing £30 million in the Releasing Time for Care Programme, which aims to help practices reduce their workload through spreading awareness of innovations and facilitating local programmes. Getting the skills mix right in general practice is also critical in addressing workload pressures as well as in delivering appropriate patient care. This will mean bigger teams of staff, providing a wider range of care options for patients and freeing up more time for GPs to focus on those with more complex needs. As of September 2018, there were over 3,700 more clinical staff, excluding GPs, working in general practice since 2015; consisting of over 600 more nurses and over 3,000 more other direct patient care. In addition to this work, the General Practice Partnership Review, an independent review into the partnership model to which practices work, will deliver its final report early this year. The independent review will consider key questions around workforce and workload and make a number of recommendations with the aim of ensuring general practice remains an excellent place to work.

Visual Impairment

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle preventable blindness.

Steve Brine: The Government takes the concerns around reported avoidable sight loss very seriously. Following the All Party Parliamentary Group on Eye Health and Visual Impairment’s ‘See the Light’ report, initial meetings have been held with key stakeholders to discuss the Department and NHS England’s response to the report’s recommendations and these discussions are ongoing. Two key initiatives, Getting it Right First Time being led by NHS Improvement and the Elective Care Transformation Programme being led by NHS England have considered, as part of their programmes, what can be done to ensure patients do not suffer unnecessary delays in follow-up care for ophthalmology. Action is also being taken to reduce sight loss caused by medical conditions. On diabetic retinopathy, a common complication of diabetes which can lead to sight loss, a diabetic retinopathy screening programme led by Public Health England offered screening to 2.4 million eligible people in 2015/16. Early detection is also key and free National Health Service sight tests are available to those at increased risk of eye disease or likely to be deterred from seeking private tests on grounds of cost.

Department of Health and Social Care: Brexit

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many civil servants in his Department are currently working on planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and how many have been moved from other projects to work on those plans.

Caroline Dinenage: A central team within the Global and Public Health Directorate of the Department coordinates the provision of advice to Ministers on all European Union exit and exit-related issues, including no deal scenarios. Additional EU exit-related workstreams are being taken forward in other parts of the department. It is not possible to break down the proportion of overall time spent within these teams on no deal scenarios specifically. On 18 December 2018, the Cabinet agreed to proceed with the Government’s next phase of no deal planning. Preparing for no deal is now an operational priority for the Government. We have accelerated our plans, and at the same time, the Civil Service as a whole is working to ensure that EU exit implementation is carried out to a high standard without impacting public service delivery across the whole of Government.

Department of Health and Social Care: Brexit

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many projects his Department has put on hold due to the requirements of planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Caroline Dinenage: Planning for European Union exit is a crucial part of the Department’s work and has been a priority since the referendum. The Government is committed to ensuring leaving the EU is a success for the health and social care sector, as well as the United Kingdom. On 18 December 2018, the Cabinet agreed to proceed with the Government’s next phase of no deal planning. Preparing for no deal is now an operational priority for the Government. Accordingly, we are dedicating more departmental resource to planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal. The Department is working to ensure that it continues to deliver on business as usual priorities alongside increasing EU exit related work, where possible. Departments are continually looking at and reviewing workforce plans, reprioritising and assessing changing needs. We expect our ‘no deal’ plans will not be required, but will prepare responsibly to ensure the smoothest exit in all outcomes.

Social Services: Greater London

Mike Gapes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to increase investment to meet social care needs in north-east London.

Caroline Dinenage: Social care funding for future years will be settled in the Spending Review, where the overall approach to funding local government will be considered in the round.

Social Services

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government’s preparations for the UK leaving the EU potentially with no deal are expected to delay the publication of the Social Care Green Paper.

Caroline Dinenage: No, as an ageing society, we need to reach a longer-term sustainable settlement for social care. The Social Care Green Paper remains a priority and the Government has committed to publishing at the earliest opportunity.

Social Services

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Department is taking to ensure that the Social Care Green Paper is published at the earliest opportunity.

Caroline Dinenage: The Social Care Green Paper remains a priority for this Government. The Department is working hard to publish a Green Paper setting out proposals for reform at the earliest opportunity.

Social Services

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has plans to publish the  Social Care Green Paper before the UK leaves the EU.

Caroline Dinenage: An ageing society means that we need to reach a longer-term sustainable settlement for social care. This is why the Government has committed to publishing a Green Paper at the earliest opportunity setting out its proposals for reform.

Diseases

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the report entitled, Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs 2013-2020, published by the World Health Organisation; and if he will make statement.

Steve Brine: The Government supports the World Health Organization’s (WHO) ‘Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs 2013-2020’ and has implemented a range of policies which contribute to reducing and controlling non-communicable diseases (NCDs). These include policies to reduce smoking; promote healthy diets; tackle misuse of alcohol; and encourage physical exercise. All of these policies are well-aligned with the WHO’s recommended actions on NCDs.

Breastfeeding

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what information his Department holds on breastfeeding prevalence at (a) six to eight weeks, (b) six months, (c) 12 months and (d) 24 months in each year since 2010.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Since 2015 Public Health England has published experimental statistics on breastfeeding prevalence at six to eight weeks. These data can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/breastfeeding-statistics These data are based on an interim voluntary data collection by local authorities. Prior to 2015, this data was published by NHS England and is not comparable due to methodological changes. Breastfeeding prevalence at six to eight weeks data is also available in the Public Health Outcomes Framework. These data can be found at the following link: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/public-health-outcomes-framework/data#page/11/gid/1000042/pat/6/par/E12000001/ati/102/are/E06000005 There is no comparable data available for earlier years due to methodological changes. Breastfeeding prevalence at six, 12 and 24 months is not reported nationally.

Breastfeeding

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps his Department has taken to promote breastfeeding.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Public Health England (PHE) is committed to improving breastfeeding rates across England and has identified breastfeeding as a key priority within our maternity and child health programmes.PHE works nationally to support local authorities (LAs) to improve breastfeeding rates. PHE, in partnership with the United Nations International Childrens’ Emergency Fund (UNICEF), published an infant feeding commissioning toolkit to support the commissioning of interventions to improve breastfeeding rates, available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/infant-feeding-commissioning-servicesLAs and their partners are encouraged to provide a comprehensive universal service with access to specialist support when needed. The PHE breastfeeding fingertips profiles allow local areas to see performance against a range of indicators supporting them to plan and review services and local population needs. More information is available at the following link:https://fingertips.phe.org.ukPHE supports action to improve breastfeeding rates through evidence to provide guidance to professionals, and address health inequalities. The guidance includes six high impact areas for early years aimed at health visitors includes promotion of breastfeeding and is available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/563921/Early_years_high_impact_area3_breastfeeding.pdf

Hormone Replacement Therapy

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many women were prescribed hormone replacement therapy by drug type in each year since 2012.

Steve Brine: The information is not available in the format requested. Information collected by NHS Digital relates to prescription items dispensed in the community in England.

Naproxen

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care,  whether his Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of supplies of naproxen.

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken steps to stockpile Naproxen.

Stephen Hammond: Supplies of naproxen tablets are currently available but are limited due to a manufacturing issue that has affected the availability of the active pharmaceutical ingredient. The Department is working closely with all suppliers to resolve the situation and expedite further deliveries as soon as possible. Additional deliveries of naproxen are expected throughout January and February. As a responsible Government, we continue to prepare proportionately for all scenarios following our exit from the European Union in March 2019, including a ‘no-deal’ scenario. This includes asking pharmaceutical companies to have six weeks additional supply of all pharmacy and prescription-only medicines which enter the United Kingdom from, or via, the European Union or European Economic Area over and above their business as usual stocks.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of funding required to update the NHS Breast Screening IT systems; and what steps his Department is taking to allocate more funding to that programme.

Steve Brine: The Government has committed an initial £1.8 million to identify and design an immediate replacement for the National Breast Screening System. Work is underway to scope out the most appropriate alternative. Following the discovery and design phases, and subject to the necessary approvals, further funding will be available to implement the final version. Improving cancer screening, early diagnosis and treatment is a core part of the NHS Long Term Plan published 7 January 2019. The Government is investing £487 million in healthcare technology as part of the NHS Long Term Plan to improve patient care, reduce workload on staff and make every pound go further.

Dental Services: Oxfordshire

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS registered dental practices there were in (a) Oxfordshire and (b) Oxford West and Abingdon constituency in each of the last 10 years.

Steve Brine: The data is currently not available centrally in the format requested.

General Practitioners

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what duties are placed on clinical commissioning groups to ensure that public transport routes are available to GPs.

Steve Brine: There are no duties placed on clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to ensure that public transport routes are available to general practitioners. However, the Health and Social Care Act (2012) places specific duties on CCGs and NHS England to address health inequalities in relation to access and outcomes.

Insulin

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure sufficient stocks of insulin for people with type 1 diabetes, in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Stephen Hammond: Insulin is vitally important to millions of people in this country. Our contingency plans aim to ensure that the supply of insulin and other essential medicines to patients is not disrupted in all European Union exit scenarios, including in the event of a ‘no deal’ exit. On 23 August 2018, the Department wrote to all pharmaceutical companies that supply prescription-only medicines and pharmacy medicines to the United Kingdom that come from, or via, the EU or European Economic Area (EEA) asking them to ensure a minimum of six weeks additional supply in the UK, over and above existing business-as-usual buffer stocks, by 29 March 2019. On 7 December 2018, the Department wrote to pharmaceutical companies that supply licensed medicines to the UK from or via the EU/EEA, and/or manufacture medicines in the UK, informing them of the updated reasonable worst-case scenario border planning assumptions and asking them about their current transportation routes and their ability to re-route their supply chains if they currently rely on Dover and/or Folkestone. We have received very good engagement from industry, including companies supplying insulin to the UK, who share our aims of ensuring continuity of medicines supply for patients is maintained and able to cope with any potential delays at the border that may arise in the short term in the event of a ‘no deal’ EU exit.

Department for Work and Pensions

Child Support Agency: Incentives

Sir Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether there is a bonus scheme in the Child Support Agency.

Justin Tomlinson: The Child Support Agency (CSA) is part of the Department for Work and Pensions and staff in CSA are therefore eligible to receive rewards in line with the broader DWP reward and recognition policies.

Universal Credit: Support for Mortgage Interest

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will reduce the number of weeks required for a claimant to be in receipt of universal credit in order to be eligible for support for mortgage interest payments.

Justin Tomlinson: Working age claimants will need to claim for a period 39 weeks before Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) loans can be paid. It is reasonable to expect that homeowners should make arrangements by working together with their lenders to meet their housing costs during short terms of unemployment and sickness. We provide support to claimants in explaining their circumstances to their lenders, enabling them to understand that the individual is qualifying for SMI.

Department for Work and Pensions: Brexit

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department (a) has spent and (b) plans to spend in the next three months on publicity in relation to the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Alok Sharma: The Government has a duty to inform citizens and businesses about how leaving the EU might affect them, and to advise on the steps they may need to take to prepare for EU Exit.We have developed a cross-departmental public information campaign to help achieve this. Over the coming weeks, we will be using a range of channels to direct UK citizens, businesses, EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU to a dedicated area on GOV.UK at Gov.uk/euexit. Information on the costs associated with this campaign will be released in due course as part of normal data transparency releases.

Department for Work and Pensions: Brexit

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department (a) has spent and (b) plans to spend in the next three months on a public information campaign to prepare people for the potential effects of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Alok Sharma: The Government has a duty to inform citizens and businesses about how leaving the EU might affect them, and to advise on the steps they may need to take to prepare for EU Exit.We have developed a cross-departmental public information campaign to help achieve this. Over the coming weeks, we will be using a range of channels to direct UK citizens, businesses, EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU to a dedicated area on GOV.UK at Gov.uk/euexit. Information on the costs associated with this campaign will be released in due course as part of normal data transparency releases.

Conditions of Employment

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether the Government has plans to publish a response to the ILO Brown Report on ending violence and harassment in the world of work.

Alok Sharma: The Government supports the adoption of an ILO Convention on ending violence and harassment in the world of work and is negotiating to achieve a convention which is ratifiable by as large a number of the ILO’s membership as possible. Given the UK is engaged in on-going negotiation on the content of the convention, we have no plans to publish our response to the ILO Brown Report. In March, the ILO will publish its Blue Report, which will reflect the responses received.

Children: Maintenance

Sir Mike Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she was aware of cases where service personnel were deducted more than £900 a month in child support payments while serving on operations.

Justin Tomlinson: My Department does not hold information on whether service personnel are deployed on operations. Service personnel are treated in the same way as other paying parents and their child maintenance liability will increase, or decrease in line with any changes to their income.

Children: Maintenance

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to reduce the rate of non-compliance from paying parents to receiving parents using the Child Maintenance Service.

Justin Tomlinson: The Child Maintenance Service has wide ranging powers to enforce the collection of both ongoing child maintenance liability and also arrears. Our Compliance and Arrears strategy further strengthens our enforcement powers by enabling the deduction of child maintenance from a wider range of bank accounts, tackling ‘asset rich’ parents by assuming a notional income from certain assets, and enabling non-compliant parents to be disqualified from holding or obtaining a UK passport.

Home Office

Immigration: EU Nationals

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether resident EU citizens and their family members applying for UK immigration status under the EU Settlement Scheme will be required to show that they meet all the requirements of current free movement rules.

Caroline Nokes: As set out in the Statement of Intent published on 21 June 2018, EU citizens and their family members who apply for UK immigration status under the EU Settlement Scheme will not be required to show that they meet all the requirements of current free movement rules, such as any requirement to hold comprehensive sickness insurance or to have been undertaking specific permitted activities under EU law. Instead, the main requirement for eligibility under the scheme will be continuous residence in the UK.

Migrant Workers

Carol Monaghan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department made of the variations in national average salaries in advance of setting a £30,000 salary threshold for skilled workers.

Caroline Nokes: In their report, EEA migration in the UK, the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) recommended “maintaining the existing salary threshold for all migrants in Tier 2”. The Government will engage businesses and employers as to what salary threshold should be set.In addition, Scotland already has a separate Shortage Occupation List (SOL) and we will invite the Migration Advisory Committee to compile such a list for Northern Ireland and consider whether the composition of the SOL needs to be different for Wales.

British Nationality

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent consideration has been given to allowing residents who are British by descent to gain citizenship.

Caroline Nokes: The British Nationality Act 1981 defines who is a British citizen. A person who is of the first generation born outside the United Kingdom to a British citizen would usually be a British citizen by descent. There is no difference in the quality of citizenship between those who are British citizens by descent and those who acquire it by birth, registration or naturalisation in the UK. All have the same rights and access to services in the UK or consular services while overseas.A person who is a British citizen by descent cannot usually pass on that citizenship to a child born overseas unless they were in Crown service at the time of the child’s birth. However, if children are born overseas to a British citizen by descent, the legislation contains provisions for a child to be registered where a continuing connection with the United Kingdom is demonstrated.

Migrant Workers: Veterinary Medicine

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will include veterinary surgeons in his Department's proposals to remove the cap on the number of non-UK skilled workers.

Caroline Nokes: On 19 December, the Government set out its proposals for future skills-based immigration system. Paragraph 6.13 of the White Paper indicates that the Government accepts the Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendation that the skilled migration route in the future system, which will encompass veterinary surgeons, should not be subject to a cap.

Police: Cooperation

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the extent of resource sharing across police forces; what assistance his Department provides to support that sharing of resources; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Nick Hurd: Decisions on the deployment and sharing of resources are matters for Chief Constables and elected Police and Crime Commissioners.The Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 placed a duty on chief officers and policing bodies to keep collaboration opportunities under review and to collaborate where it is in the interests of the efficiency or effectiveness of their own and other police force areas.Through the Police Transformation Fund the Home Office is supporting the National Police Chief’s Council’s Specialist Capabilities Programme which is developing new approaches for the provision of specialist capabilities across police forces.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of compatibility of the proposed settled status scheme for EU nationals with Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department taken legal advice on a potential challenge to the settled status scheme because of incompatibility with the the right to family life.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the compatibility of the Settled Status scheme with the rights of frontier workers set out in Article 24 of the Withdrawal Agreement.

Caroline Nokes: The EU Settlement Scheme is based on the draft Withdrawal Agreement with the EU, published on 14 November 2018. As the Withdrawal Agreement is based on residence rights stemming from existing EU law, it is compliant with the UK’s obligations as set out in the European Convention on Human Rights, which applies in all EU Member States and which includes the right to family life.Frontier workers who are protected by Article 24 of the draft Withdrawal Agreement and who wish to continue to frontier work in the UK may apply to the EU Settlement Scheme should they wish for example, if they have been or expect to be resident in the UK for sufficient periods to be eligible for the scheme. Alternatively, they may be subject to a requirement to obtain a document to evidence their right to enter the UK and work as a frontier worker in line with Article 26 of the draft Withdrawal Agreement. Further details on this will be provided in due course.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many additional staff his Department has employed to process settled status applications for EU nationals living in the UK.

Caroline Nokes: We currently have over 1200 UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) European Casework staff in post, which will increase to 1,500 before the scheme fully launches by the end of March 2019. We are committed to ensuring that our operational teams have the resources they need to run an efficient and effective system, and we actively monitor workflows to ensure sufficient resources are in place to meet demand.

Domestic Violence: Victim Support Schemes

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 20 November 2018 to Question 191963, on Domestic Violence: Victim Support Schemes, how many victims of domestic abuse applied to the Destitute Domestic Violence Concession; and how many of those applications were successful.

Caroline Nokes: The published statistics relating to individuals granted leave to remain under the destitution domestic violence concession are included in the Partner category within the published Migration Statistics. The latest available data from the Immigration Statistics year ending September 2018 release are provided in the link below.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-september-2018-data-tables

Fire and Rescue Services: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will set a timescale for reinstating capital funding for fire and rescue services.

Mr Nick Hurd: All future funding requirements for fire and rescue services will be considered as part of the 2019 Spending Review.In 2019/2020, fire and rescue services will receive approximately £2.3bn in funding. It is the responsibility of each fire and rescue service to determine how best to allocate its resources effectively, including meeting any capital requirements.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Brexit

Christine Jardine: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much her Department (a) has spent and (b) plans to spend in the next three months on a public information campaign to prepare people for the potential effects of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Karen Bradley: The Government has a duty to inform citizens and businesses about how leaving the EU might affect them, and to advise on the steps they may need to take to prepare for EU Exit. A cross-departmental public information campaign has been developed to help achieve this. Over the coming weeks, my colleagues in other departments will be using a range of channels to direct UK citizens, businesses, EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU to dedicated web pages at gov.uk/euexit. Information on the costs associated with this campaign will be released in due course as part of normal data transparency releases.

Treasury

Financial Conduct Authority: Staff

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) staff and (b) full-time equivalent staff are employed in (i) payroll and (ii) non-payroll roles in the Financial Conduct Authority.

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff in the Financial Conduct Authority.

John Glen: As of 31 December 2018, the Financial Conduct Authority has 3,936 payroll staff (3,804 full-time equivalent) and 239 non-payroll staff (234 full-time equivalent). The FCA is funded through a levy on the financial services industry.

Office of Tax Simplification: Staff

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) staff and (b) full-time equivalent staff are employed in (I) payroll and (b) non-payroll roles in the Office of Tax Simplification.

Mel Stride: As stated in the Office of Tax Simplification Annual Report, during the year to 31 March 2018, a total of 20 people worked for the OTS at some stage, either full-time or part-time. Across the year as a whole this amounted to the equivalent of 8.25 full time people. These staff were all payroll.

Office of Tax Simplification: Staff

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) payroll and (b) non-payroll staff in the Office of Tax Simplification.

Mel Stride: As stated in the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) 2017/18 Annual Report, the OTS’s budget for the year April 2017 to March 2018 was £870,000, of which the pay element was £680,000.

Treasury: Staff

John McDonnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) staff and (b) full-time equivalent staff are employed in (i) payroll and (ii) non-payroll roles in his private office.

Robert Jenrick: As at the 30th November 2018 in the Chancellor’s Office there were 10 paid staff with a full time equivalent of 10 FTE. No non-payroll roles.

Revenue and Customs: Brexit

Chris Law: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the HMRC Single Departmental Plan, published on 12 July 2018, what assessment HMRC has made of the effect on compliance yield of the redeployment of HMRC Compliance Caseworkers to undertake preparatory work on the UK leaving the EU.

Mel Stride: HMRC regularly monitors its performance against its Compliance Yield target, which includes making assessments of the potential impacts of the redeployment of caseworkers. HMRC is on track to deliver the £30bn compliance yield target for 2018-19.

Revenue and Customs: Brexit

Chris Law: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the oral Evidence of the Permanent Secretary of HMRC of 5 November 2018 to the Public Accounts Committee, Question 152, what assessment he has made of the capacity of his Department to ensure that all legislation in relation to Customs, Vat and Excise required for the UK leaving the EU without a deal will be receive Royal Assent or Affirmative Resolution by 29 March 2019.

Mel Stride: The Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018, which received Royal Assent on 13 September 2018, includes a series of substantive provisions and powers that will ensure functioning customs, VAT and excise regimes after EU exit. The government remains confident that all required SIs will be brought forward in good time.

Revenue and Customs: Working Hours

Chris Law: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many HMRC staff in each pay grade have written opt out agreements under Regulation 5 of the Working Time Regulations 1998.

Mel Stride: The number of people in each pay grade in HMRC who have written opt out agreements are: GradeNumber of staffAdministrative Assistant (AA)7Administrative Officer (AO)113Executive Officer (O)72Higher Executive Officer (HO)36Senior Executive Officer (SO)8Grade 76SCS PB11SCS PB21Total244

Revenue and Customs: Brexit

Chris Law: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff HMRC has requested to work in excess of 48 hours per week in preparation for the UK leaving the EU.

Mel Stride: HMRC monitor the number of staff who work in excess of 48 hours per week. However, we do not document the reason staff adopt this working pattern. We are therefore unable to advise if this working pattern relates to preparations for the UK leaving the EU.

VAT: Electronic Government

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2018 to Question 197633 on VAT: Electronic Government, how many and what proportion of eligible businesses have signed up for making tax digital for VAT.

Mel Stride: Further to my response on 5 December 2018 to PQ 197633; daily take-up during this pilot stage has now increased to over 100 businesses per day. HMRC is continuing to issue letters to all businesses in scope inviting them to join early, so that they can test the service before mandation.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency: Data Protection

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2018 to Question 201731, how many cases have come before the Information Commissioner in relation to allegations that the DVLA computer system has been illegally accessed by private car park operators to obtain a driver's personal data in the last year.

Margot James: The Information Commissioner performs her regulatory functions independently of Government. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport does not hold operational data on the Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) enforcement activity and is unable to to provide detail on specific complaints or investigations on behalf of the Commissioner. The ICO does, however, publish a range of management information about enforcement activity they have undertaken and numbers of complaints received and addressed on their website (ico.org.uk). Enquiries about specific cases can be made directly to the ICO using the general enquiry form available on their website.

Musicians: Travel

Mr George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with counterparts in (a) the EU and (b) Governments of EU Member States on the potential consequences of the UK leaving the EU without a deal on carnet-free travel between the UK and the EU for musicians travelling for work purposes.

Margot James: We recognise that the temporary movement of goods such as musical instruments and equipment is important to the music industry. As part of our wider preparations for EU Exit, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is working with the music industry to understand potential impacts and opportunities for touring musicians. The Department will continue to build on this engagement. In the unlikely event of a No Deal scenario the UK will continue to recognise and facilitate ATA Carnets originating from the EU and, although there has been no direct engagement with the EU or other member states, the UK expects similar recognition and facilitations from EU signatories just as we do with non-EU signatories.

Loneliness

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on loneliness of the measures announced in Budget 2018.

Mims Davies: There was no requirement on HM Treasury to consider loneliness in developing Budget 2018. The cross-government loneliness team will continue to work with HM Treasury, as with other departments, to explore how social connection is considered and reflected across their policy-making in future, as recently set out in the first loneliness strategy for England, ‘A connected society’.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Brexit

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many projects his Department has put on hold due to the requirements of planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Richard Harrington: The Government’s policy is for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union with a negotiated deal. Individual Departments are responsible for briefing businesses and other interested parties about contingency planning for all eventualities, and the Cabinet Office is co-ordinating contingency planning across Whitehall. Departments are continually looking at and reviewing workforce plans, reprioritising and assessing changing needs. We expect our ‘no deal’ plans will not be required but will prepare responsibly to ensure the smoothest exit in all outcomes.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Brexit

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much his Department (a) has spent and (b) plans to spend in the next three months on publicity in relation to the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Richard Harrington: The Government has a duty to inform citizens and businesses about how leaving the EU might affect them, and to advise on the steps they may need to take to prepare for EU Exit.We have developed a cross-departmental public information campaign to help achieve this. Over the coming weeks, we will be using a range of channels to direct UK citizens, businesses, EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU to a dedicated area on GOV.UK at gov.uk/euexit.Information on the costs associated with this campaign will be released in due course as part of normal data transparency releases.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Carbon Monoxide: Poisoning

John McNally: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the CO2 regulations in Scotland in relation to private landlords.

Kit Malthouse: The Government has not made a specific assessment of the potential merits of the Scottish Carbon Monoxide regulations in relation to private landlords.In England, a consultation was held to assess the effectiveness of the Smoke and Carbon Monoxide Alarm (England) Regulations 2015. The responses to this consultation showed that the regulations were working as intended. The results of this consultation will feed into the wider review of requirements for Carbon Monoxide alarms that was announced in April 2018. This review will consider if the regulations should be extended to include all fuel types as well as all tenuresIn England the regulations require that private landlords install a carbon monoxide alarm in any room having a solid fuel heating appliance. Private landlords are also required to ensure that the alarms are in working order on the first day of the tenancy. Failure to comply with the regulations can result in a penalty of up to £5,000The Scottish Carbon Monoxide alarm regulations are a devolved power and it would be for the devolved administration in Scotland to provide details of any assessments they have made of their regulations.

Carbon Monoxide: Poisoning

John McNally: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what (a) guidance and (b) public awareness campaigns his Department has issued on the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning; and if he will make a statement.

John McNally: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking reduce the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning in communities not on the gas distribution grid; and if he will make a statement.

Kit Malthouse: The Government’s approach to reducing risks from carbon monoxide poisoning covers all tenures and locations including communities not on the gas distribution grid.A Cross-Government Group exists to ensure a joined–up approach across departments, the devolved administrations and non-departmental bodies. MHCLG is a member of this group. Each year, the group publishes a report with a summary of activities. The latest report can be seen at www.hse.gov.uk/gas/domestic/cross-government-group.htmIn June 2018, MHCLG published a set of ‘how to’ guides for tenants, landlords and leaseholders to help ensure that a rented property is safe to live in. This includes guidance about carbon monoxide alarms.MHCLG is also carrying out a review to establish whether carbon monoxide alarm requirements, currently limited to solid fuel burning appliances in the private rented sector, should be extended to social housing and to other fuel-burning appliances, including mains gas and liquefied petroleum gas and oil where mains gas is not available. The findings of this review are being considered alongside responses to the Social Housing Green Paper.

Public Lavatories: Non-domestic Rates

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will introduce discretionary rate relief for all public conveniences.

Rishi Sunak: At Autumn Budget 2018, the Government announced a 100 per cent business rates relief for stand-alone public lavatories in England and will introduce legislation as soon as parliamentary time allows. This relief will be provided for publicly and privately-owned lavatories. Local authorities will be fully compensated for the loss of income as a result of providing this relief. Authorities  retain their discretionary powers to grant relief to other ratepayers in need of assistance.

Leasehold

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward proposals to protect existing homeowners who are prevented from selling their properties due to the amount of time left on the lease.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We are working with the Law Commission to make it easier, faster, fairer and cheaper for leaseholders to buy their freehold or extend their lease. The Law Commission have recently consulted on possible measures, including introducing a prescribed formula that provides fair compensation to the landlord, whilst also helping leaseholders avoid incurring additional court costs. This consultation closed on 7 January 2019 and the Law Commission will be providing recommendations to Government later this year.

Leasehold: Reform

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 14 December 2018 to Question 199433 on Leasehold: Reform, if he will publish the minutes of that meeting.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: I refer the Hon Member to my answer on 14 December 2018 to Question UIN 199433.

Housing: Regeneration

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will create a fund for local authorities and housing associations to invest in the regeneration of existing housing stock.

Kit Malthouse: The Autumn Budget 2017 announced additional funding of £400 million recoverable loan finance for estate regeneration schemes. A fund of £290 million of recoverable loan has previously been made available. Also, in March 2017 we allocated £32 million of grant to 105 estates. The priorities for the programme are to:support the creation of additional, high-quality housing by enabling the densification of estates (where appropriate) through the better use of space and design;create better places to help tackle the social disadvantage and deprivation associated with many existing estates.

Housing: Regeneration

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what Homes England's remit is in relation to housing regeneration where existing housing stock is low quality and has high void rates.

Kit Malthouse: Homes England’s remit is to intervene in the market to ensure more homes are built in areas of greatest need, to improve affordability and to make this sustainable by creating a more resilient and diverse housing market. Homes England manage the Estate Regeneration fund including £290 million of recoverable loan finance and are responsible for delivery across the country including London. Their responsibilities include providing support to prospective applicants, assessing bids and managing approved projects as they progress.

Take-away Food

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to give local authorities the power to limit the number of fast food takeaway premises.

Kit Malthouse: Local authorities already have a range of powers and opportunities to create healthier environments. The National Planning Policy Framework makes it clear that planning policies and decisions should enable and support healthy lifestyles which can include access to healthier foods. Local authorities have the power to develop planning policies to limit the opening of additional hot food takeaways if evidence and circumstances support it. In considering specific proposals, a local authority may consider the proximity to places where children and young people congregate, such as schools, play areas and community centres. Levels of obesity and the over-concentration of a particular use within an area are also factors a local authority may consider. A planning application is always required to open a hot food takeaway in new premises.

Fire and Rescue Services: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will ensure that future funding settlements for fire and rescue services take account of geographical differences in council tax revenue.

Rishi Sunak: We are reviewing local authorities’ relative needs and resources to take a fresh look at how to fund services, including fire and rescue services, at future funding settlements.As part of this, the Government believes that it remains important to continue to take account of local authorities’ relative ability to raise resources, including council tax, when allocating funding.Our December 2018 consultation sets out proposals for measuring local authority need, options for a resources adjustment and principles for potential transition arrangements.

Ministry of Defence

EU Defence Policy

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what level of participation the UK will have in (a) the European Defence Agency, (b) Common Security and Defence Policy missions and operations, (c) the EU Military Command, (d) the EU Military Staff, (e) the European Defence Fund, and (f) the Permanent Structured Cooperation if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Mark Lancaster: Delivering the deal negotiated with the EU remains the Government's top priority. This has not changed. While our focus remains on securing agreement with the EU, the Ministry of Defence, like the rest of Government, is also preparing for "No Deal". This planning is focused on ensuring that our supply chains are resilient and to minimise disruption to our bases and people in Europe.In a No Deal scenario, the UK would have to withdraw from Common Security and Defence Policy missions and operations - both military and civilian, and associated personnel seconded to the EU institutions. The UK would continue to act through other multilateral fora, including through the UN and NATO. Similarly, the UK would not be able to participate in research and industrial cooperation or projects through the European Defence Agency, European Defence Fund, or Permanent Structured Cooperation. The UK would continue to support our defence industrial base: the UK has the largest defence budget in Europe and the UK's defence market is one of the most open and competitive in the world.

Islamic State: Military Intervention

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effect on (a) Operation Shader and (b) the capacity of UK armed forces to call in airstrikes from the ground of the announcement by the US Administration of the withdrawal of ground troops from Syria.

Mark Lancaster: Since military operations began, the Global Coalition and its partners in Syria and Iraq have recaptured almost all the territory once held by Daesh, and important advances have been made in recent weeks in the last area of eastern Syria to be occupied by Daesh.As the United States has made clear, their announcement does not signal the end of the Coalition or its campaign. Much remains to be done and Daesh will remain a threat even without territory. The UK remains committed to the Coalition and its objective of ensuring Daesh's enduring defeat. We are discussing with the US the implications of their announcement and seeking clarity on their further plans.

Ministry of Defence: Brexit

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department is spending on a public information campaign to prepare people for the potential effects of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Mark Lancaster: The Government has a duty to inform citizens and businesses about how leaving the EU might affect them, and to advise on the steps they may need to take to prepare for EU Exit.We have developed a cross-Departmental public information campaign to help achieve this. Over the coming weeks, we will be using a range of channels to direct UK citizens, businesses, EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU to a dedicated area on GOV.UK at Gov.uk/euexit.The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is working closely with the Department for Exiting the European Union and other Government Departments to take the necessary steps to ensure the country continues to operate as smoothly as possible from the day we leave. The MOD is publishing information for our personnel to ensure they remain suitably informed and are able to prepare accordingly. The MOD has incurred no direct costs in relation to this public information campaign.

Army: Recruitment

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library a copy of the Capita brief provided to the advertising agency commissioned to produce the Your Army Needs You advertising campaign launched in January 2019.

Mark Lancaster: Some sections of the requested Capita brief may require redaction due to commercial sensitivity. I will seek to place a copy in the Library of the House as soon as practicable, once it has been reviewed by Ministry of Defence officials.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Brexit

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much his Department is spending on a public information campaign to prepare people for the potential effects of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

David Mundell: The Office is working closely with communications teams across Government on public information campaigns relating to EU Exit. The Office has used its social media channels to amplify messages around relevant content including the publication of Technical Notices and advice on preparedness for individuals and businesses via the UK Government’s www.euexit.campaign.gov.uk website. The Office has not incurred direct costs for the promotion of a public information campaign on this issue to date as this is funded by other departments.

Church Commissioners

Cathedrals: Music

Adam Holloway: To ask the Right Honourable Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, how many cathedrals and abbeys (a) do and (b) do not appoint a head chorister.

Dame Caroline Spelman: The operation and governance of cathedral choirs is not a matter for the Church Commissioners and no data on this is held centrally. In Rochester Cathedral which is nearest to the Hon. Member’s constituency the cathedral has appointed Dean’s Choristers (two boys and two girls) to share the responsibility, the rationale for which is to enable a larger number of choristers to gain leadership experience. This is also the case at some but not all other cathedrals.

Department for International Trade

Trade Fairs

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 21 December 2018 to Question 203424, how the Government represents each region of the UK on trade show stands.

Graham Stuart: The Department for International Trade promotes the whole of the UK on its trade stands and does not, typically, seek to specifically represent each region on each stand.

Department for Transport

Department for Transport: Brexit

Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding from the public purse has been allocated to his Department for financial year 2018-19 for planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and how much of that funding has been spent.

Chris Grayling: My Department was allocated up to £76.8m for EU Exit preparations in this financial year for all scenarios. £15.8m of this funding has been spent.

Motorcycles: Safety

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has to increase motorcycle safety.

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Road Safety Statement: Progress Report document published 13 June 2018, what progress has been made since the publication of that document to strengthen the compulsory basic training regime for motorcyclists.

Jesse Norman: The statement in June 2018 explained that work was in progress on proposals to strengthen the compulsory basic training regime for learner motorcyclists, to ensure a lifetime of safe riding for all riders. The Department and DVSA are working and continue to work to bring these forward including liaising with stakeholders and identifying any areas which may require further consultation.The forthcoming refreshed Road Safety Statement will focus on four key priority groups including motorcyclists, rural road users, young road users and older road users.

Cycling and Walking: Chesterfield

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much funding his Department provided for cycling and walking investment strategy projects in Chesterfield in 2017-18.

Jesse Norman: Neither Chesterfield Borough Council nor Derbyshire County Council received any dedicated DfT funding for cycling and walking projects in 2017/18. Between 2013/14 and 2014/15 Derbyshire County Council received £6.5m from the Department’s Cycling Ambition (National Parks) fund, which is now closed. This funding allowed for the improvement of cycling facilities in the Peak District National Park, including the A6 Matlock Cycle Path, to enhance the visitor experience for cyclists. Nottingham City Council is developing a Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan, in partnership with the Local Enterprise Partnership for Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. The plan will consider opportunities for cycling and walking infrastructure projects across the region, including in Chesterfield.

Shipping: Tonnage Tax

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of tonnage on the UK Ship Register was from the (a) coastal freight, (b) container, (c) bulk carrier, (d) cruise and (e) offshore supply sectors in each year since 2010.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The proportion of tonnage on the UK Ship Register, for ships over 100 gross tonnage, at the end of March in each year since 2010 is shown below: Year(a) Coastal Freight(b) Container(c) Bulk Carrier(d) Cruise(e) Offshore Supply201028%53%10%7%3%201129%54%9%4%3%201227%52%14%4%3%201329%48%13%6%4%201432%53%5%6%4%201531%52%8%6%4%201628%50%10%7%4%201729%52%10%6%4%201825%54%11%6%4% The UK Ship Register does not record any specific data on (a) coastal freight as this is not a specific ship type for registration purposes. The data shown above, in (a), includes the following ship types: Cargo; Passenger; Roll On-Roll Off; Tanker; and Other. Only whole percentages are shown.

Department for Transport: Brexit

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many civil servants in his Department are currently working on planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and how many have been moved from other projects to work on those plans.

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many projects his Department has put on hold due to the requirements of planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Chris Grayling: DfT currently has 160 staff working directly on EU Exit and is drawing in more resource. It is likely to be necessary to pause or defer a number of existing workstreams in order to release enough staff to support the departmental response to a no deal exit from the EU. These work areas are being identified through a review of all key activities and priorities.

Department for Transport: Brexit

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department (a) has spent and (b) plans to spend in the next three months on publicity in relation to the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Chris Grayling: The Government has a duty to inform citizens and businesses about how leaving the EU might affect them, and to advise on the steps they may need to take to prepare for EU Exit.We have developed a cross-departmental public information campaign to help achieve this. Over the coming weeks, we will be using a range of channels to direct UK citizens, businesses, EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU to a dedicated area on GOV.UK at Gov.uk/euexit.Information on the costs associated with this campaign will be released in due course as part of normal data transparency releases.

Cycleways

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what comparative assessment his Department has made of the number of dedicated cycle lanes in the UK and other nations in northern Europe.

Jesse Norman: As part of the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy Safety Review in 2018 the Department considered evidence from other European countries on the effectiveness of different ways of improving the safety of those who walk and cycle. The Government response to the Safety Review included a commitment to learn from, and give input into, best practice across Europe for safe and popular cycling and walking infrastructure, and to explore ways of collaborating more closely on this with countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark.

Patients: Transport

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what requirements are placed on transport authorities to connect communities or populations with a GP.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Local authorities should take account of the health, housing, educational and transport needs of their populations when planning and delivering local services. The Government’s Inclusive Transport Strategy, published in July 2018, recognises the importance of good transport links to hospitals, and the Department will continue to work with the Department for Health and Social Care on ways of improving transport links to hospitals and other medical centres. National Health Service commissioners and providers also have a statutory duty to consult stakeholders including local transport authorities on the impact of local health service changes, including analysis of available transport options, public transport schedules and the availability and affordability of car parking.

M6: Motorway Service Areas

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the (a) inspection regime, (b) repair turnaround period and (c) availability of fast chargers provided by M6 motorway service stations.

Jesse Norman: This UK has one of the best electric vehicle infrastructure networks in the world. As part of this, Highways England are investing £15m to ensure that there is a rapid chargepoint every 20 miles along 95% of the strategic road network. Motorway service areas have commercial agreements with chargepoint providers, to which the Government is not a party. The Automated and Electric Vehicles Act gives the Government powers to require the installation of chargepoints at motorway service areas, and to set reliability and maintenance standards for public chargepoints. The Government will continue to monitor market developments and will consider using these powers if the market does not deliver.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Torture

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his US counterpart on the UK Government's opposition to the use of torture.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK consistently and unreservedly condemns the use of torture in all forms. We continue to combat it wherever and whenever it occurs. The US Government is aware of our position on this issue.

Syria: Turkey

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his Turkish counterpart to ensure that any military action in Northern Syria should not seek to evict the Kurdish population that lives there.

Sir Alan Duncan: We are concerned about reports of a Turkish military offensive in North East Syria, and have made these concerns clear to Turkey. In the event of military activity, the UK expects all parties to respect international humanitarian law and protect civilians and aid workers, and to allow unhindered humanitarian access so aid can reach those in need. We continue to advocate for freedom of movement for civilians caught up in violence across Syria.Our priority is to end the conflict in Syria through a negotiated political settlement: we believe only an inclusive, non-sectarian government can unite the country and protect the rights of all Syrians.

Sudan: Foreign Relations

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department plans to publish a communique on the UK-Sudan Strategic Dialogue meeting which took place in London on 7 November 2018.

Harriett Baldwin: As with previous rounds of the UK-Sudan Strategic Dialogue, we will publish a full communique on the British Government's website.

Sudan: Torture

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress Sudan has made towards the ratification of the United Nations Convention Against Torture since the initiation of the UK-Sudan Strategic Dialogue in March 2016.

Harriett Baldwin: ​The Government of Sudan continues to consider ratification of the Convention Against Torture (CAT) and the Sudanese Ministry of Justice are currently undertaking studies in this regard. We continue to urge them to do so as a priority. Most recently the need to ratify the CAT was discussed, along with the need for wider progress on human rights, during the UK-Sudan Strategic Dialogue in November 2018. In March 2018 the British Embassy in Khartoum also funded a workshop for senior government of Sudan representatives that focused on the steps needed for Sudan to ratify the CAT.

Sudan: National Security

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the powers allocated to the National Intelligence and Security Services in Sudan under that country's 2010 National Security Act.

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the powers allocated to the National Intelligence and Security Services in Sudan under the National Security Act 2010.

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Sudanese counterpart on reforms to that county's 2010 National Security Act.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK has raised concerns about the Sudan National Security Act of 2010 on a number of occasions, especially on issues of accountability and provisions that offer National Intelligence and Security Service officers immunity from prosecution. As part of Sudan's Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights at the Human Rights Council in May 2016, the UK called for reforms to ensure adherence to International standards. The 2017 Foreign and Commonwealth Office Human Rights Report further urged Sudan to implement its Universal Periodic Review recommendations regarding reform of the act, to ensure that the national intelligence and security services conformed to international human rights standards, and urged full accountability for all human rights violations. We continue to raise these concerns with the Government of Sudan.

Iran: Public Health

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to Eurostat data showing a 38% reduction in annual UK pharmaceutical exports to Iran, what assessment he has made of the effect of US sanctions on (a) the ability of the UK pharmaceutical sector to support public health in Iran and (b) on public health outcomes in Iran.

Alistair Burt: ​The Government regrets the US decision to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPoA) nuclear deal and re-impose sanctions on Iran. Humanitarian goods are not subject to either US or EU sanctions. We are, nevertheless, working with our European partners on mechanisms to support continued trade in humanitarian goods, such as pharmaceutical exports. Following the re-imposition of US sanctions in November 2018 it is too early to make an assessment of the effect on public health outcomes in Iran.

Syria: Peacekeeping Operations

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the decision by the US to withdraw all of its ground troops from Syria, what representations he received from US officials prior to the US President's decision to withdraw; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the US withdrawal on the numbers of British ground forces operating in northern Syria.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign Secretary spoke with United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on 19 December with regard to President Trump's decision to withdraw from Syria. Senior officials have been in close contact with their US counterparts on the implementation of this decision, including on the implications for Coalition military action in Syria.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress his Department made during the Christmas recess on securing the release of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

Alistair Burt: The treatment of all British-Iranians detained in Iran, including Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, is a priority for the Government. We urgently raise these cases with the Iranian Government at every opportunity. We will continue to raise Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's case, as well as our other consular cases, with the Iranian Government on all occasions, including requesting consular access, and will continue to take action in line with what we believe will produce the best outcomes in their cases.

Department for International Development

Department for International Development: Brexit

Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much funding from the public purse has been allocated to her Department for financial year 2018-19 for planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and how much of that funding has been spent.

Harriett Baldwin: HM Treasury has already allocated over £4.2 billion of additional funding to departments and the devolved administrations for EU exit preparations so far. This includes the £1.5 billion of additional funding HM Treasury announced at Autumn Budget 2017 for 2018/19. A full breakdown of how this was allocated to departments can be found in the Chief Secretary’s Written Ministerial Statement, HCWS540, laid on the 13th March (https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-03-13/HCWS540/). This money will be paid out in Supplementary Estimates 18/19 later this financial year. No specific funding was allocated to DFID for 2018-19 at the Spring Statement 2018.

Department for International Development: Staff

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how many staff were employed in her Department on (a) 20 December 2018 and (b) 23 June 2016.

Harriett Baldwin: As at 20 December 2018 DFID employed 2728 Home Civil Servants (HCS), 2022 HCS were employed on 23 June 2016.

Humanitarian Aid: Vetting

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to (a) make employment in the aid sector a regulated activity and (b) bring disclosure and barring requirements in line with other professions that work with children and vulnerable adults.

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of regulating employment in the aid sector.

Harriett Baldwin: Since early 2018 DFID has intensified work to tackle sexual exploitation and abuse and sexual harassment in the aid sector. As part of that we have considered a wide range of potential measures, including the two proposed in the question. Neither of those would, however, cover employees of foreign organisations, many of whom help deliver UK funded programmes. Therefore, we believe there are alternative non-legislative mechanisms which better address this issue, such as those announced at the 18 October Safeguarding Summit. These include an Interpol pilot to improve background checks, provide advice to employers on international vetting and identify high-risk individuals; a new passport for aid workers to prove an individual’s identity and provide their vetting status; and a Disclosure of Misconduct scheme for the NGO sector to allow organisations to share information about an employee’s past misconduct. These tools are designed to work alongside existing mechanisms, such as DBS, and we are confident they will lead to tangible improvements in safeguarding standards and better protection of vulnerable adults and children in the aid sector.

Overseas Aid

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she has taken to ensure that the effectiveness of UK ODA will not be affected by reductions in the number of staff in her Department.

Harriett Baldwin: In common with other government departments and in response to a request from the Cabinet Office, DFID has been considering what support it may be able to offer other government departments in the event of a no deal EU Exit. This contingency planning is specifically for a no deal EU Exit scenario only. In all scenarios, essential DFID business must continue to ensure that we meet the 0.7% commitment, with impact and value for money. EU exit will not prevent us from continuing the lifesaving humanitarian work that we carry out around the world.

UNAIDS

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, with reference to the written statement of 20 December 2018 on Future Leadership of UNAIDS, HCWS1223, if she will withhold funding allocated by her Department to UNAIDS in 2019 until the Executive Director of that organisation steps down in response to the recommendations of the report on the work of the Independent Expert Panel on prevention of and response to harassment, including sexual harassment; bullying and abuse of power at UNAIDS Secretariat, published in December 2018; and if she will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: The UK has been a driving force in tackling this issue, galvanising the sector to put in place the vital initiatives needed to finally rid it of those who seek to tarnish its reputation. We have been very clear that we will not tolerate practices which do not reach the highest standards in relation to tackling harassment, including sexual harassment, bullying and abuse of power. The UK expects the current Executive Director to step down. This is vital to signal a strong response to this critical issue within and beyond the organisation.The UK’s next scheduled payment to UNAIDS is not due until later in the year. We will assess progress in implementation of the Panel’s recommendations as part of our regular review of funding.A statement was issued by Secretary of State on UNAIDS on Thursday 20 December 2018, reference: HCWS1223https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-12-20/HCWS1223/ There are currently no plans for the Secretary of State to make a statement in the House beyond the statement on 20 December 2018.

Palestinians: UNRWA

Richard Graham: What recent representations she has received on the future of UNRWA funding in Palestine.

Alistair Burt: In December, we received representations from Pierre Krähenbühl, UNRWA’s Commissioner General, and Jamie McGoldrick, the local UN Humanitarian Coordinator who thanked the UK for our support in reducing UNRWA’s unprecedented financial shortfall. We will continue working with UNRWA and other donors to help ensure its essential services are maintained.

Uganda: Politics and Government

Dr Paul Williams: What recent steps her Department has taken to help strengthen governance and security in Uganda.

Harriett Baldwin: Since 2014 DFID has invested £30 million to improve the governance and security environment in Uganda. We are working with the Ugandan government and non-government actors to strengthen anti-corruption, build local governance capacity, increase accountability, and support public financial management reforms.

Rohingya

Paul Scully: What steps she is taking to provide long-term support for the Rohingya people.

Penny Mordaunt: The UK is pushing for accountability and longer-term support for the Rohingya. We are supporting the refugees in Bangladesh and pressing for improved conditions in Rakhine State. We have been one of the main donors to the international humanitarian response plan and we expect to remain a leading donor.

Yemen: Humanitarian Aid

Angela Crawley: What steps she is taking to improve the humanitarian situation in Yemen.

Alistair Burt: Following the positive Stockholm consultations in December we encourage the parties to implement their agreements. Any escalation of military activity must be avoided and Hodeidah and Saleef ports and onward supply routes kept open. We continue to address the deteriorating humanitarian situation through our £170m in UK aid for 2018/19.

Department for International Development: Departmental Responsibilities

Steve Double: What her Department's priorities are for 2019.

Penny Mordaunt: DFID will continue to lead the UK’s work to end extreme poverty, deliver the Sustainable Development Goals and tackle the global challenges in line with the UK government’s Aid Strategy. As the UK leaves the European Union, strengthening our global presence will be vital, and I am determined that DFID will play a full part in this – maintaining and enhancing the UK’s position as a global development superpower.

Department for International Development: Departmental Responsibilities

Will Quince: What her Department's priorities are for 2019.

Penny Mordaunt: DFID will continue to lead the UK’s work to end extreme poverty, deliver the Sustainable Development Goals and tackle the global challenges in line with the UK government’s Aid Strategy. As the UK leaves the European Union, strengthening our global presence will be vital, and I am determined that DFID will play a full part in this – maintaining and enhancing the UK’s position as a global development superpower.

Department for Education

Post-18 Education and Funding Review

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, who is providing the secretariat to the Government's review of post-18 education and funding.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The terms of reference for the post-18 education and funding review sets out that it is led by the Department for Education and will report to the my right hon. Friends, the Secretary of State for Education, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Prime Minister.

Pupils: Disadvantaged

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children eligible for free school meals attained adequate levels of school readiness in (a) Birkenhead constituency, (b) Wirral, (c) the Liverpool City Region, and (d) England.

Nadhim Zahawi: The requested data is provided in Annex A, which is attached. For completeness, figures have been provided for the two key Early Years Foundation Stage Profile indicators. These are the number of children achieving a Good Level of Development, which is the measure more widely used to assess school readiness, and the number of children achieving at least the expected level in all 17 Early Learning Goals.  



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Department for Education: Public Expenditure

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the proportion of the budget of (a) executive agencies, (b) non-departmental public bodies and (c) organisations which receive funding from his Department that is spent on staffing costs.

Anne Milton: All information shown is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-annual-reports.A full breakdown of staff costs and the proportion of total costs for the period of 2016 to 2017 and for 2017 to 2018 is shown in Table 1, which is attached. 



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Universities: Admissions

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the number of students who have been granted a university place after obtaining three D grades or lower at A-level in each of the last three years.

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the proportion of students granted a place at (a) Russell Group, (b) University Alliance, (c) Million Plus and (d) Guild HE universities having obtained three D grades or lower at A-level in each of the last three years.

Chris Skidmore: The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) publish data on the number of English 18 year-olds accepted into full-time higher education (HE) by A level points score.The table below shows the number of 18 year-olds in England who held at least three A levels and were accepted into HE with A level points equivalent to DDD or below: Year201620172018Acceptances6,6057,0957,505These figures are not published at an institution level.

Higher Education: Disability

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2018 to Question 199284 on Disabled Students' Allowances: Visual Impairment, what steps his Department has taken to monitor whether higher education providers are fulfilling their responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 to make reasonable adjustments for all disabled higher education students and not just those in receipt of Disabled Students’ Allowance.

Chris Skidmore: In 2017, the Higher Education Funding Council for England published a report of research into higher education providers’ models of support for disabled students in higher education. The report is available at: https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20180322111239/http://www.hefce.ac.uk/pubs/rereports/year/2017/modelsofsupport/.The Office for Students’ equality and diversity objectives include challenging higher education providers to reduce gaps in access, success and progression for students from all backgrounds. This includes reducing the challenges for disabled students in accessing, succeeding and progressing in higher education.

Department for Education: Staff

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many staff were employed in his Department on (a) 20 December 2018 and (b) 23 June 2016.

Anne Milton: Staffing data are produced for the department monthly. The table below shows the number of staff employed in the department at the end of November 2018 and at the end of June 2016: DateHeadcountFull-time equivalent a) November 201863086074.8b) June 201635313395.6 During this period, there have been Machinery of Government changes. This included the department taking responsibility for higher and further education and for the Skills Funding Agency, which merged with the Education Funding Agency to create the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

Teachers: Pay

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that teachers in sixth form colleges that (a) are and (b) are not academies receive the same Teachers' pay grant.

Nick Gibb: A Teachers’ Pay Grant will be paid to all maintained schools and academies this year and next. The grant will total £187 million in 2018-19 and £321 million in 2019-20. The methodology underpinning the distribution of the grant can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-pay-grant-methodology/teachers-pay-grant-methodology.Individual schools’ allocations can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teachers-pay-grant-2018-to-2019-financial-year-allocations.Further education (FE) and sixth form colleges have a different legal status and relationship to government when compared with academies. They are private sector institutions, independent of government and therefore, we are considering the needs of FE providers separately. We will continue to look carefully at funding for FE in preparation for the next Spending Review.

Department for Education: Infrastructure

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many infrastructure contracts overseen by his Department have been let with the stipulation that a Project Bank Account must be applied in the last year.

Nick Gibb: The Department has not mandated the use of Project Bank Accounts on any of its infrastructure contracts in the last year. The Department has considered the use of Project Bank Accounts on infrastructure contracts, but due to the specific nature and size of procurements and contracts, there are compelling reasons not to mandate its use.

Department for Education: Brexit

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many civil servants in his Department are currently working on planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and how many have been moved from other projects to work on those plans.

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many projects his Department has put on hold due to the requirements of planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Anne Milton: ​The department has spent more than two years carrying out preparations for all scenarios, including a no deal scenario. The government, including the Department for Education, is accelerating no deal preparations to ensure the country is prepared for every eventuality.A team within the department’s International Education Directorate leads our EU Exit programme and coordination of preparations. Members of staff across the department work on EU Exit issues, including no deal preparations, across a range of policy areas as required.Given the interactions between EU Exit work and the department’s other priorities, it is not possible to give an accurate figure specifically for work on EU Exit issues, including on no deal planning.​The work of the department is continuing, including planning and preparing for the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Children: Social Services

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to increase the funding available to local authorities to provide effective children's services to support children and their families.

Nadhim Zahawi: Funding for children’s services is made available through the local government finance settlement. We are in the final year of a multi-year settlement deal, worth over £200 billion in the five years to 2020.In the Autumn Budget, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an extra £410 million to address pressures on adult and children social care services, along with £84 million over five years to support up to 20 local authorities to improve their social work practice and decision-making, enabling them to work more effectively with the most vulnerable children and their families.

Children: Social Services

Toby Perkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make a comparative assessment of the changes in the level of his Department's spending on children's services (a) in total and (b) per child in each year since 2009.

Nadhim Zahawi: In the 2010 and 2015 Spending Reviews, the Department for Education’s total allocations were[1][2]: 2010 to 20112011 to 20122012 to 20132013 to 20142014 to 20152015 to 20162016 to 20172017 to 20182018 to 20192019 to 2020£58.4 billion£56.1 billion£56.3 billion£56.2 billion£57.2 billion£58.2 billion£59.6 billion£60.1 billion£60.8 billion£61.6 billionDepartment allocations are not made on a per child basis.As children’s services are delivered through local government, the vast majority of their funding comes through the local government finance settlement. However, as the responsibilities, structure and makeup of local authorities and the department have changed a great deal since 2009, central funding (department spend) to local government and wider spending power measures therefore are not directly comparable over this period.Over the five-year period from 2015-2016 to 2019-2020, councils have access, through the local government settlement, to over £200 billion to deliver local services, including children’s services. This core spending power is not ring fenced and it is for local authorities to determine spend across different areas according to local priorities.In addition to this, the Autumn Budget announced a further £410 million in 2019 to 2020 for local authorities to invest in adult and children’s social care services. It also announced £84 million of extra funding, over the next 5 years, to support local authorities to invest in initiatives that improve social work practice and decision making so that children can stay at home and with their family where it is in their best interest to do so. [1] Totals include resource and capital departmental expenditure limits. [2] Sources: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/203826/Spending_review_2010.pdf.  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spending-review-and-autumn-statement-2015-documents/spending-review-and-autumn-statement-2015.

Sex and Relationship Education: Human Papillomavirus

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will include learning about the HPV vaccination in the new sex education curriculum.

Nick Gibb: The current Sex and Relationship Education guidance, published in 2000, and the draft guidance for the new subjects of relationships education, relationships and sex education, and health education include teaching about sexual and reproductive health and wellbeing. The new guidance, which will be mandatory from September 2020, also covers how different sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are transmitted and key facts about prevention and treatment. Teachers are free to use teaching in this area of the curriculum as an opportunity to inform pupils about the human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccination. Schools may also teach about cancer awareness, including HPV, in other areas of the curriculum. For example, the secondary science national curriculum and GCSEs include content about STIs and non-communicable diseases, such as cancer.

Children: Care Homes

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of children’s homes run by (a) local authorities, (b) voluntary organisations and (c) private sector institutions are rated (i) requires improvement and (ii) inadequate; and how many children are in those homes.

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children’s homes run by (a) local authorities, (b) voluntary organisations and (c) private sector institutions have (i) had their operations suspended, (ii) had their registration cancelled and (iii) been issued with a notice restricting accommodation in each of the last five years.

Nadhim Zahawi: This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to the hon. Member for South Shields and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Department for Education: Brexit

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much his Department has (a) spent and (b) plans to spend in the next three months on publicity in relation to the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Anne Milton: To date, the department has spent nothing on publicity in relation to the UK leaving the EU without a deal. In the next three months, the department has no spend planned on publicity in relation to the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Pupils: Per Capita Costs

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will set out (a) total school funding, (b) school funding per primary pupil and (c) school funding per secondary pupil in real terms for each year from 1996-97 to 2018-19 in England.

Nick Gibb: Funding per pupil in cash terms from 1996/97 to 2018/19 and total schools funding from 2001/02 to 2018/19 are set out in the attached tables. Before 2001 schools funding was included within the local government funding settlement. For this reason, the total funding prior to 2001 is not readily available. Before 2018/19 funding was not allocated separately for primary and secondary phases. The Government publishes Gross Domestic Product (GDP) deflators that can be used to understand the impact of inflation over time. These are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/gdp-deflators-at-market-prices-and-money-gdp-october-2018-budget-2018. Analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has shown that per pupil spending in schools in 2020 is set to be at least 70% higher in real terms than it was in 1990: https://www.ifs.org.uk/uploads/publications/comms/R150.pdf.



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Department of Education: Civil Servants

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of civil servants (a) were born, (b) were educated and (c) lived in London prior to beginning their employment with his Department.

Anne Milton: The information requested is not held centrally.

Pupils: Data Protection

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the ending in September 2018 of the collection of school children's nationality data, whether families can withdraw consent for uses of nationality data submitted between 2016 and 2018 which is held by his Department at a national level; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The Department collected data on the nationality, country of birth and proficiency in English of pupils via the school census between autumn 2016 and summer 2018. The data was collected for the purposes of educational research to help better understand the impact of migration on the school system. Understanding trends in migration and the associated needs in the school system, helps us ensure that all children in the UK, regardless of their nationality, have the best possible education.The requirement for parents and guardians to provide information on their children’s nationality and country of birth was optional and the school census guidance expected schools to ensure that they were made aware of their right to decline to provide this data. Guidance also advised schools to inform parents that if they wished to retract any nationality or country of birth information returned in a previous census, they should inform their school of this decision. This would then be transferred to the Department and the Department would remove from its systems any information previously returned. As this data is no longer collected, the last opportunity for parents to retract this information was via the last collection in summer 2018.

Leader of the House

Animal Welfare

Dr David Drew: To ask the Leader of the House, what discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the allocation of time to debate (a) the matter of and (b) legislative proposals in relation to animal sentience.

Andrea Leadsom: I continue to have regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the allocation of time for business and announce the upcoming business at the weekly Business Questions on a Thursday morning.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Floods: River Quaggy

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential risk from contamination to the Bowring sports ground as a result of flooding from the River Quaggy.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The water quality in the River Quaggy is tested regularly by the Environment Agency, however river water quality is only one factor that can contribute to contamination in a flooding event. In times of flood there is the potential for additional contamination such as sewage leaking from flooded drains.Public Health England has published guidance for those responding to flooding emergencies and undertaking subsequent recovery activity. This guidance includes the potential public health risks associated with the flooding of sport playing fields and is available to view here:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/348917/Guidance_on_Recovery_from_Flooding_essential_info_from_frontline_responders.pdf

Department for Exiting the European Union

Department for Exiting the European Union: Staff

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many staff were employed in his Department on (a) 20 December 2018 and (b) 23 June 2016.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The number of staff employed by the Department for Exiting the European Union is published, each month, on gov.uk as part of our transparency reporting. It can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-exiting-the-european-union-monthly-workforce-management-information-for-2017-and-2018The Department for Exiting the European Union was not in existence on 23 June 2016.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Brexit

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many civil servants in his Department are currently working on planning for the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and how many have been moved from other projects to work on those plans.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Department continues to recruit talent from across the civil service, the wider public sector and the private sector. The Department for Exiting the European Union has over 700 staff working with other government departments on all aspects of EU Exit policy. There is no specific division between the various aspects of EU Exit policy work as there is necessary overlap to support all the objectives of the Department.

Department for Exiting the European Union: Nationality

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many and what proportion of his departmental officials (a) are foreign nationals, (b) are EU citizens and (c) hold dual nationality.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Based on self-declaration rates held on our HR systems, the number of staff in the Department for Exiting the European Union who are: foreign nationals is 12, which is 2% as a proportion of those on the Department’s HR systems.non-UK EU citizens is 10, which is 1.7% as a proportion of those on the Department’s HR systems.Information on dual nationality is not available from our systems. These figures are based entirely on people identifying themselves as a foreign national or an EU national on the Department’s HR systems.

Wales Office

Wales Office: Brexit

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how much his Department is spending on a public information campaign to prepare people for the potential effects of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Nigel Adams: The Government’s top priority is to deliver the deal negotiated with the EU. However, as a responsible government we are carrying out extensive preparations for all scenarios, including no deal. We are now accelerating and intensifying these preparations in the lead up to exit day, including providing public information to prepare people and businesses for a no deal scenario. The Office of the Secretary of State for Wales is supporting other government departments in this work but is not spending money itself on any public information campaign.

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Justice: Staff

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff were employed in his Department on (a) 20 December 2018 and (b) 23 June 2016.

Edward Argar: In MoJ, staff data is collected monthly at month-end, as such we have provided data at the nearest available snapshot dates below: 70,227 FTE (Full Time Equivalent) - as at 30 November 201863,364 FTE – as at 30 June 2016 The increase noted is almost exclusively in HMPPS (6,311 FTE) and predominantly in the operational line.

Civil Proceedings

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect of the changes to the civil standard of proof proposed in the recent consultation from the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal on users of legal services.

Lucy Frazer: The legal profession in England and Wales is independent of government. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) has a statutory right to make its own rules, under section 46 of the Solicitors Act 1974. We understand the SDT is still reviewing consultation responses, and no final decisions have been made. The SDT will no doubt consider the impact on users of legal services of any changes to its rules that it wishes to make.

Prison and Probation Service: Training

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many current HM Prison and Probation Service staff have completed voluntary civil service learning courses entitled (a) mental health conditions and dementia: support for customers, (b) mental health awareness, (c) mental health at work, (d) becoming a dementia friend and (e) well-being, resilience and stress in each of the last three years.

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many serving HM Prison and Probation Service staff have passed the end-of-course assessment of courses entitled (a) mental health conditions and dementia: support for customers, (b) mental health awareness, (c) mental health at work, (d) becoming a dementia friend and (e) well-being, resilience and stress in the last three years.

Rory Stewart: Civil Service Learning data is only available from the 1st April 2016 due to a new learning platform being introduced. Furthermore, Mental Health Awareness is currently not an active course and the data provided below for that specific course is until 31st March 2018.The total number of Prison and Probation Service staff who have passed the end of course assessment on the courses named below since the 1st April 2016 are as follows: TotalMental health conditions and dementia: support for customers106Mental health awareness360Mental health at work23Becoming a dementia friend90Well-being, resilience and stress2313 These courses are additional learning on top of the core training provided to Prison and Probation staff.In Prison Officer Entry Level Training, there are a number of sessions on Mental Health within this training such as Introduction to Mental Health’, ‘Introduction to Suicide and Self Harm (SASH) Prevention’ and ‘Personality Disorders.In addition, over 14,000 staff have already received new suicide and self-harm reduction training which includes a module on Mental Health Awareness, in addition to the safer custody training already provided across the estate.

Prisoners: Human Trafficking

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the number of women in prison who are victims of human trafficking.

Edward Argar: The information requested is not collated or held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many victims of sexual abuse have had their applications for compensation from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme rejected because they had an unspent criminal conviction in each year since 2010.

Edward Argar: The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Courts: Fines

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the total value of uncollected court fines is in each year since 2010.

Lucy Frazer: The cumulative amount of outstanding court fines as at 31st March of each year is detailed below. Year ended 31st March£’0002018623,6092017504,7542016374,1352015340,0002014335,3772013370,5912012396,7662011413,1582010395,804

Cabinet Office

Financial, Professional and Education Services Business Council

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what is the membership is of the Financial, Professional and Education Services Business Council that was announced on Tuesday 6 November 2018.

Oliver Dowden: I refer the hon. Member to the press release issued on 6 November 2018 which is available on the gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/five-new-business-councils-to-advise-the-prime-minister-on-post-brexit-opportunities, which outlines the co-chairs and business representative of each Business Council. Full membership of each Council will be confirmed shortly.

House of Commons Commission

House of Commons: Hearing Impaired

Dr David Drew: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the loop system in the House of Commons for people with hearing difficulties.

Tom Brake: The House of Commons Commission has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.